Pages

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

new for Bloomingdale #1: RAZE PERMIT for 1634 North Capitol Street NW

The raze permit for 1634 North Capitol Street NW was announced on back on Monday, 01-09-2017.

When was the last time a raze permit arose in Bloomingdale? I can't recall one over the past 20+ years. So I am considering this a "new thing" for Bloomingdale.Does Bloomingdale support or oppose the demolition of 1634 North Capitol St NW?Does anyone care?Any feedback?

Here is the rendering from the developer for the site between Old Engine 12 Restaurant and Pub and the People. Here is the Washingtonian article link.

Yes, the rendering is gorgeous. But I wonder why the rendering does not render the building to the right as it currently looks today -- which BTW, this developer is responsible for-- an ugly, asymetrical popper topper which took all of the architectural detail and beauty away to create more units in the cheapest and seemingly shoddiest way possible. All complimented by hideous siding that will look like crap in 10 years.

I would prefer that the applicant not be granted a raze permit until there is some assurance that a new building will quickly replace it. The retail space next door, by the same developer, has sat vacant for how many years? (Who wants to see another vacant lot to pair with the Mamo lot in the next block? How many years has the Mamo lot sat empty? We have seen lots of fancy drawings, but no plans, of that proposed building for years.)

The historic buildings could be very charming and I would love to see them adaptively reused. Some neighbors don't like the idea of the raze while others are very interested in the proposed new building. Fourteen units on top of retail, plus an unstated number of off street parking, seems like a lot for that space. Does anyone know how many will be required?

I would hate to see more attempts to raze properties in our beautiful neighborhood. On the same list of raze applications is an end unit rowhouse in Petworth, 4207 8th Street, NW. (This was posted on PoPville.) It is hard to imagine how one can tear down a rowhouse with a shared party wall without damaging abutting properties. There has been a lot of property damage, even building collapses, in recent years due to flipped homes.

And your reservations regarding the time delay between raze and construction, as well as the vacant retail spot that is currently next door which has sat for quite sometime empty is well-founded. It just so happens, the "developer" of 1634 is the same developer of the empty retail next door, and the shoddy looking apartments that sit on top. That being said, I'm not sure of the matter-of-right limitations, if any, they would be bound by in proceeding ahead.

Itts along a commercial corridor, the existing buildings that are being razed are both two short, and underutilized. A condo, or any multi-story building would be better. I can sympathize with the commentor above regarding a long wait between raze and build-out. I just don't know if you can ever get any assurances.

I support the theory of this project - more housing and retail there would be good for that bit of North Capitol and hopefully encourage yet more- but share the cautions about execution based on developer's previous performance and delays. Also, the permanent loss of Capitol Food Market is a sad thing given what they have tried to do in outreach to adjust inventory for neighborhood tastes not to mention voluntarily serving as a package pickup stop for the neighborhood during some of our burglary crime waves. That part makes me sad.